Several Killed in Flash Floods Across Yemen

The violent storms have added to the woes of the war-torn country, which the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Five years of conflict have left much of the impoverished country in ruins.

"Sixteen people drowned and another person was killed after being struck by lightning," local health authorities said in a statement on Tuesday.

Recent storms have hit other provinces, including the capital Sana'a, Amran, Hodeidah, Taiz, Saada and Hadramout.

Dozens of homes and hundreds of tents for the displaced have been destroyed, according to the authorities.

Meanwhile, the official Saba news agency reported that floodwaters swelling the reservoir of the Marib dam, built in 1986, have raised concerns it might collapse.

On Wednesday, four houses in Sana’a old city has collapsed over heavy rains.

The Old City of Sana’a, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has a distinctive architectural character, most notably expressed in its multi-story buildings decorated with geometric patterns. In the conflict that raged in 2015, bombs hit UNESCO sites in the old city.

According to al-Alam TV, the destroyed houses included two old four-story and two-story empty houses.